Thomas, who started at right guard for most of last season, has been moved to the left side of the offensive line. The relocation project requires him to flip everything from his stance, his technique and most importantly, how he processes plays in his head.

"It's an adjustment considering I've got a small football past," said Thomas, referring to the fact he didn't play high school football before walking onto the University of Connecticut's football team in 2003. "The last time I played on the left was when I was on the scout team in college. That was the first time I learned the game, so it's stuck."

Thomas obviously isn't struggling too much, considering the team's 2008 sixth-round pick spent the past two days working with the starting unit, leapfrogging Cory Procter on the depth chart.

And that's despite sparingly working on the left side during the team's offseason workout program and minicamp sessions.

Thomas said he played on the left side "maybe the first two weeks" of the Dolphins' organized team activities, which lasted about two months. Thomas thought he struggled on the left considering the coaches quickly scrapped the experiment, moving him back to the right side, where he's started 13 games the past two seasons.

To the contrary, Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said Thomas' work on the left side was superior to how he performed on the right, where rookie John Jerry and Richie Incognito are battling for the starting spot.

Sparano warns not to read too much into the depth chart, because all six players competing to become the team's starting left and right guard and center (Jake Grove and Joe Berger) are receiving a fairly equal amount of snaps, and will be regularly moved to provide a thorough evaluation.